Nicole has dedicated her professional life for the last 12+ years to business development initiatives in the travel, wellness and media space, so being a part of the Kind Traveler team utilizes her talents, but more importantly helps fulfill her personal mantra which states that “If everyone traveled, the world would be a much more harmonious place.” Bringing the gift of travel, and doing it while giving to charity integrates all of her passions! Nicole’s family lived and traveled all over the world, and so from a very young age she was a vagabond of sorts. She embraced the “foreignness” and sought out things that would put her outside of her comfort zone – even if it meant bringing adult Nicole to embarrassing bellowing tears (as was the case when she was about to enter the crystal clear waters of Bora Bora to scuba dive with several schools of black tip reef and lemon sharks). In her free time, you’ll find Nicole spending time outdoors or doing DIY home improvements (wearing her own tool belt) in beautiful Venice Beach, with her actor/singer/writer/producer husband and their rescue family – a golden doodle (Bizzo) and cattle dog (Bruno). Her least favorite activity is trying to find the missing sock that the doodle has stolen. She’s always fantasizing about her next vacation – that, or about being nearly smothered by a puppy pile, by a gang of ring-tailed lemurs, or by baby goats!
- What’s your spirit animal?
The love child of a meerkat and a ring-tailed lemur.
- Your favorite cause and charity and why?
Wildlands Network is an amazing charity that is dedicated to connecting fractionated habitats and animals via a network of “wild ways” (wildlife highways). They’re committed to educating people about how to coexist with nature, and teaching them why apex predators are essential to a healthy and thriving ecosystem.
- Your favorite travel destination that you’ve been to?
Jordan for me was a land of surprises. The diversity of landscape, cultural and historical treasures, rich customs and the most amazing food I’ve ever had! The true highlight was the people, their kindness is unparalleled because their culture is deeply rooted in the bedouin virtues of hospitality and generosity, particularly when it comes to the treatment of travelers.
- Where do you dream of traveling to?
Madagascar is a nature-lover’s paradise with over 90 percent of its flora and fauna being found nowhere else on earth. Truth is that I’m just dying to see if a family of lemurs will invite me to roam the island with them, jumping about!
- What does it mean to #TravelKindly to you?
Traveling kindly means beginning each journey with a respect for the environment/animals/people of the destination, and being an unofficial ambassador by sewing seeds of long-lasting, cross-cultural relationships wherever I may go!
